“Beyond the appropriation of public funds, Kathleen Wynne and the Liberal Party are also conscripting public servants to aid and abet them by requiring them to engage in these partisan campaign style events,” reads the letter to Elections Ontario from PC party lawyer Arthur Hamilton.

On Friday the Tories estimated the government had spent $187,500 on 25 events in the last two weeks. They say the number is based on a back-of-the-envelope style calculation based on the cost of the PC’s own events, which averages $7,500.

In an emailed statement, Premier Kathleen Wynne’s spokesperson called the accusations “entirely false.”

“As the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Ford relies on a large number of staff at the Legislature who are paid by the taxpayer. He has not fired those people or moved to pay for them, as a wealthy man, out of his own pocket. His attack is, therefore, obvious hypocrisy,” Andrea Ernesaks said.

“Most important of all, the Premier is the elected leader of the province and she attends events in that capacity.”

In her statement, Ernesaks pointed out that as a cabinet minister in 2003, Klees was on hand for a funding announcement under the then Progressive Conservatives government the day before the writ dropped.